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Trimming circuits and methods

a technology of circuits and trimming circuits, applied in the direction of pulse techniques, instruments, and semiconductor/solid-state device details, etc., can solve the problem that the trimming parameters may change afterward

Inactive Publication Date: 2010-08-24
POWER INTEGRATIONS INC
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

Enables trimming of integrated circuits after packaging, reducing errors caused by packaging stresses, and utilizing existing pins for programming, thus eliminating the need for separate programming pins and ensuring the internal circuitry is not adversely affected during programming.

Problems solved by technology

For this reason the trimming is generally performed before packaging (when the pads are accessible) but this has the disadvantage that trimmed parameters may change after encapsulation, for example due to stresses during the packaging procedure.

Method used

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  • Trimming circuits and methods
  • Trimming circuits and methods
  • Trimming circuits and methods

Examples

Experimental program
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Embodiment Construction

[0039]Referring now to FIG. 1a, this shows an example of a switch mode power supply circuit incorporating a power supply controller IC 10 of a type suitable for implementing embodiments of the invention. As illustrated, the IC includes a power switching device 20 (here an Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor, IGBT) although it will be appreciated that this may be in a separate package to the IC. The power supply comprises an AC mains input coupled to a bridge rectifier 14 to provide a DC supply to the input side of the power supply. This DC supply is switched across a primary winding 16 of a transformer 18 by means of IGBT 20. A secondary winding 22 of transformer 18 provides an AC output voltage which is rectified to provide a DC output 24, and an auxiliary winding 26 provides a feedback signal voltage proportional to the voltage on secondary winding 22. This feedback signal provides an input (FB) to a control system 28, powered (VDD) by the rectified mains.

[0040]A Current Sense (CS) ...

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PUM

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Abstract

Techniques for programming trimming circuitry of a power integrated circuit without the need for separate programming pins are disclosed. According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a power supply controller IC with internal circuitry, a plurality of external connections, the IC further comprising trimming circuitry with no external connections to the IC other than via shared ones of the external connections. The shared external connections can comprise a first connection comprising a data input for receiving data for programming the trimming circuitry, and a second, different connection comprising a select input to select between a data receiving mode for receiving data from the data input and a programming mode for programming the trimming circuitry using the received data.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 from United Kingdom Application No. 0624889.2 filed 14 Dec. 2006, which application is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention generally relates to circuits and methods for trimming an integrated circuit, in particular a power integrated circuit. More particularly the invention relates to techniques for programming trimming circuitry, which includes test circuitry, without the need for separate programming pins.BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION[0003]Analogue integrated circuits such as integrated power supply controllers are commonly trimmed at the wafer level to correct for parameter variations due to process variations. This generally employs the use of additional trimming pads within the wafer that are not bonded out. For this reason the trimming is generally performed before packaging (when the pads are accessible) but this has the disadvantage that trimmed parameters may ...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Patents(United States)
IPC IPC(8): H03K19/173G11C29/12G11C16/30
CPCG01R31/3167G01R31/40G11C17/18H02M3/33523H01L2924/0002H01L2924/00H01L23/525
Inventor LALITHAMBIKA, VINOD A.GARNER, DAVID M.COULSON, DAVID ROBERTANSARI, ZAHID
Owner POWER INTEGRATIONS INC